Update: ProfHacker recently polled readers to ask, "What do you wish you would have learned?" Number one answer: a second language. Read more here.

"I have never met a person who is not interested in language." So starts Steven Pinker's book The Language Instinct.

This is true for me. Which explains why I studied American Sign Language, Spanish, French and German, and become an ASL interpreter. My interest in language started in high school, though I had little direction or dedication. I took two years of Spanish, two years of French (which I hated, to no fault of the French), and two years of German. I began teaching myself Russian using cassette tapes and a primer text in an attempt to round out the European continent. But above all others, German hit the spot for me, and I started taking German level 2 part way through German level 1. When I move to Puerto Rico, I started learning Spanish, but soon became involved in a small deaf school. Spanish ultimately took a back seat to sign language. When I moved back to Columbus, I earned a AAS in ASL and interpreting.

I have never gotten over my failure to become proficient in Spanish and German. I can only claim fluency in ASL. I have ignored other languages in recent years. But my trip to Germany last summer reminded me just how much I enjoy and benefit from language learning. At the end of the summer, I renewed my life-long commitment to learning German and Spanish. I don't expect this path to be easy or quick. But at least I'm on the path.